Whether you add them to your breakfast or enjoy them on their own, blueberries offer more than a kick of sweetness.
The antioxidant-rich superfood is celebrated for its wide range of health benefits, ranging from reducing blood pressure to preventing heart disease.
However, the small blue fruits are also key to improving your memory and helping your brain function better, according to leading nutritionist, Rob Hobson.
What’s more, eating just a handful of blueberries daily could be potent enough to improve your cognitive health.
The reason why the small fruits offer such big benefits for your brain comes down to their antioxidant and phytochemical properties.
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Blueberries’ nutritional profiles make them great at combating oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.
These properties consequently help protect brain cells and promote better communication between neurons, leading to improved memory, cognitive function, and overall brain health, the nutritionist explained.
Worryingly, a recent study, found that a mere 2 percent of Britons actively take steps to care for their brain health, leaving a staggering 98 percent with a room for improvement.
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Hobson said: “We know from research that diet plays a key role in maintaining the health of your brain and helping with memory and cognition as you age.
“Foods for good brain health are similar to those of the heart and include eating plenty of brightly coloured vegetables and fruits such as blueberries that are rich in antioxidant compounds such as anthocyanins.
“In fact, significant research in this area has been carried out on blueberries showing benefits in adults related to memory and executive function.”
Don’t just take the nutritionist’s word for it, as a research paper, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found a link between improvement in cognitive function and the fruit.
Hobson added: “[They] found these benefits were associated with an equivalent blueberry intake of 178 grams which translates to about 80 grams given the size difference.
“It is thought that the mechanisms for these benefits may be that the anthocyanins in blueberries improve blood flow to the brain.”
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